(2 replies)]]>KJames199http://the-w.com/new-nintendo-3ds-xl-coming-feb-13-and-other-nintendo-direct-news
http://the-w.com/new-nintendo-3ds-xl-coming-feb-13-and-other-nintendo-direct-newsWed, 14 Jan 2015 17:22:23 GMT3DS • The New Nintendo 3DS XL will be launched on February 13 in North America for $199. The device will be available in black or red (and a limited-edition Majora's Mask design which may have sold out by the time you read this), and unlike in other regions, only the XL model will be made available. It's more powerful than the current 3DS (and will support some exclusive games), supports NFC (so, basically, amiibo), has a built-in camera stick, and the 3D image is more stable because it uses face-tracking technology. Incremental upgrades but not a whole new system. I, of course, intend to buy one at launch because I do not learn from past mistakes. • Monster Hunter 4 is out on February 13 too. • Kirby & The Rainbow Curse got bumped a week to February 20. • Pokémon Shuffle, a free-to-play puzzle game, is coming to the 3DS eShop in February. • Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars is out on March 5, and is the first cross-buy game. Buy it on 3DS, get it on Wii U too and vice-versa. • Xenoblade Chronicles, a port of the Wii game and the first New 3DS exclusive, will be released in April. • Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Edition releasing on May 15, bundled with Puzzle & Dragons Z. • A new Fire Emblem game was announced. No title or date or anything.

Wii U • Wii games will become available for digital download on the Wii U eShop. The games will be $20 each, but on for $10 for their first week on sale. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is out this week (maybe right now?), Punch-Out!! next week, and Metroid Prime: Trilogy the week after. You can use the Gamepad to play anything that used the Wii Classic Controller, and you don't need to go into the Wii Menu to access the games. • Hyrule Warriors is getting Majora's Mask-themed DLC on February 5. • Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars is out on March 5, and is the first cross-buy game. Buy it on 3DS, get it on Wii U too and vice-versa. • A free-to-play 4-player action game, currently codenamed Project Treasure, was announced.

amiibo • Robin, Lucina, Pac-Man, Ness, Charizard, and Wario amiibo are coming in February. • Toad and new versions of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and Yoshi are coming in March. • They're going to make more Marth amiibo later this year, but no mention of the Animal Crossing Villager, the dirty pricks.

There was a 3DS system update Monday night which integrated Miiverse and the Nintendo Network into the 3DS, so you can have one account for both your Wii U (which I don't have - maybe January?) and your 3DS. This does not mean that your Virtual Console games carry over between systems or anything like that.